Cyclists Could Face Fines For Speed On Golden Gate Bridge

A bicyclist rides near the Golden Gate Bridge on National Bike To Work Day May 21, 2010 in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A bicyclist rides near the Golden Gate Bridge on National Bike To Work Day May 21, 2010 in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

SAUSALITO (KCBS) – The Golden Gate Bridge District planned to take its first look later this week at a proposed speed limit for bicyclists.

One proposal on the table: limiting cyclists to 10 mph on the span and pathway approaches to the bridge. Cyclists caught going faster than that could face a fine.

KCBS’ Barbara Taylor Reports:

An estimated 10,000 pedestrians and an additional 6,000 cyclists cross the span each day, and the concern has long been that bike accidents are a big problem for everyone.

“In the last 10 years we’ve had 164 bicycle accidents,” lamented Golden Gate Bridge District spokeswoman Mary Currie. “Thirty-nine percent of those have been speed-related and it’s also interesting that most of our accidents are solo accidents. A biker has an accident all on their own, slam on their brakes and do a flip over.”

The average cyclist’s speed is estimated at 13 to 17 miles per hour.

“Rate of speed seems to be one of the things that we could best improve safety by controlling the speed and setting a speed limit of 10 miles per hour,” suggested Currie.

A bridge board committee was expected to hear more about the proposal, which would include $100 citations for offenders, on Thursday.

“We’re also looking at some improved signage, as well as some striping out on the sidewalk just to separate bikes and pedestrians better,” Currie added.

“The biggest message to everyone,” she said, “is to remember it’s the Golden Gate Bridge, it’s an icon and we all need to slow down and enjoy it.”

So 6000 cyclists a day for 10 years, that’s 21.9 MILLION bicycle trips, and there have been 164 bicycle accidents. And only 39 percent of those were speed related. 64 speed related bicycle accidents in 10 years. One in every 342,187 bike bridge trips will end with an accident. Sounds like we have a HUGE problem on our hands! We must do something right away!!

Did anyone in the GG bridge district stop to think that bicycles are inherently less stable at very low speeds? There is a real reason why cyclist have naturally averaged 13 to 17 mph on the span in presence of the unpredictable cross winds. This 10 mph speed limit has the real possibility of inducing more accidents than less!

I suspect that this is one of the most accident prone areas on a per mile basis. Let’s face it, occasional bikers/tourists don’t mix well with experienced cyclists zipping by at 20+mph, heavy cross winds, narrow passageways, etc.